Weighing the Options of Eddie Alvarez

In the co-main event of the UFC's Sunday return to Boston, former Bellator lightweight king Eddie Alvarez scored a crucial, split decision win over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Though his strategy wasn't exactly pretty, the end result was one of the most significant wins of his illustrious career.

With the win, Alvarez moves to 2-1 in the UFC, having rebounded from a loss to Donald Cerrone with a pair of close wins over Gilbert Melendez and now Pettis. And while a 2-1 record isn't the typical recipe for a UFC title shot, Alvarez's many accomplishments mean he is right there in the mix at 155 lbs. He reaffirmed this fact in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

"I want the champion next. Give me the champion," he said.

Of course, it's never as simple as calling for a title shot—especially at lightweight. The division has always been one of the UFC's most stacked and remains that way today. As such, Alvarez is not the only lightweight who can be argued to have earned a shot at gold. Furthermore, the division's next championship bout, scheduled for UFC 197 on March 5, will see featherweight champion Conor McGregor move up a weight class to challenge Rafael Dos Anjos' lightweight reign. If Dos Anjos wins, we'd probably see another lightweight title fight sometime in the latter half of 2016—still a long time to wait for Alvarez. If Dos Anjos loses, McGregor's next fight would likely be a defense of his featherweight belt, which would cause something of a contendership logjam atop the lightweight division, and mean an even longer wait for Alvarez.

Really, no matter how Dos Anjos vs. McGregor unfolds, Alvarez and the lightweight division's other top contenders appear to have some waiting ahead. Considering no fight means no paycheck, they might then be wise to take other fights in the meantime. So where do these fighters—namely Alvarez—go from here?

Well, the most logical option seems to be to pair the division's top contenders against each other, which would allow a clearer number-one-contender to emerge. To this end, Alvarez could be matched up with Tony Ferguson, a TUF winner who is currently enjoying a 7-fight streak including triumphs over Edson Barboza, Josh Thompson, and Gleison Tibau. Similarly, Alvarez could be paired with Khabib Nurmagomedov who, despite well over a year on the sidelines, remains one of the lightweight division's very best fighters, with a sparkling 22-0 record, and victories over Pat Healy, Abel Trujillo and Rafael Dos Anjos to name a small few. Ferguson and Nurmagomedov, however, have been scheduled to meet in the past, and have plenty of festering beef as a result. So, provided Nurmagomedov is healthy enough to return in the not-too-distant future, he'll likely be paired with Ferguson—not Alvarez. This, of course, would leave Alvarez dateless.

Luckily for the former Bellator champion, the UFC lightweight division is swirling with dangerous opponents. And in this situation, he actually benefits from having been locked up in Bellator for so long, as it means he's fought very few of the UFC lightweight division's best.

He might, for example, be paired with Dustin Poirier who, after a strong run at featherweight, has found new life in the lightweight division with wins over Carlos Diego Ferreira, Yancy Medeiros, and most recently, Joseph Duffy. Similarly, the former Bellator lightweight champ might be matched up with Al Iaquinta or Beneil Dariush, both of whom have earned spots in the divisional top-10 with solid win-streaks. Then again, after dragging Pettis through hell, these opponents, while talented, would represent a bit of a step down for Alvarez. Luckily, there is one prospective opponent out there that he's very likely to be interested in. Stockton's own Nate Diaz.

Diaz recently burst back into lightweight relevance with a three-round walloping of the dangerous Michael Johnson, earning himself the lightweight division's number-7 spot in the process. Furthermore, the Stockton slugger is notorious for his singular desire for big-name opponents—Alvarez would be just that. Finally, Diaz is a long-time friend and training partner of Gilbert Melendez, who recently came up short against Alvarez. Given this, Diaz would probably jump at the chance to settle the score with Alvarez on Melendez's behalf.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this prospective pairing, however, is the way Alvarez and Diaz match up on paper. Both reside amongst the lightweight division's very best boxers, and have solid grappling to fall back on. Better still, both have a real tendency for wild fights—look to Alvarez's scraps with Joachim Hansen and Michael Chandler, and Diaz's with Cerrone and Johnson for proof of this. Given their affinities for unforgettable wars, theirs would almost certainly be a fight for the history books. Of course, the hot-and-cold Diaz is a far cry from the title shot Alvarez demanded after beating Pettis, but the fact is that at the moment, Alvarez's shot will either depend on his waiting around for months on end, or his defeating another top-ranked fighter in the meantime. Expect a fighter of his grade to opt for the latter choice.

Were it not for the game-changing superstardom of Conor McGregor, Alvarez's defeat of Pettis might well have earned him a shot at Rafael Dos Anjos' lightweight title. Given that Dos Anjos is currently tied up with McGregor, however, all signs point to Alvarez having to take another fight in the meantime. And whether that fight is a number-one contender bout with Tony Ferguson, a showdown with a rising prospect, or a guaranteed barnburner with Nate Diaz, the former Bellator king has plenty of options at his fingertips. And no matter where he goes from here, we'll all tune in.